SOUTH HADLEY –  The Jazz Ensembles of Mount Holyoke College will present their annual event, The Big Broadcast, for the 16th year.

This year, however, the format of the show will look different due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic restricting large gatherings and limiting performances at venues. Creator and director of the show, Mark Gionfriddo, said for the first time the show will take place completely virtually. This, he explained, was due to the show’s target audience.

“Our main issue is our target audience is senior citizens, the elderly who love the show, and are more susceptible to getting sick,” he said. Additionally, Gionfriddo said no live shows were being done on the Mount Holyoke campus.

He said while the rest of the group’s shows are typically free, The Big Broadcast has historically been an event for which people must purchase tickets. This, he explained, was due to the cost of the production. “It’s a big production and we put it on more than once,” Gionfriddo said.

However, this year the show will host via Zoom, making it free for the first time in its history. “Everyone’s looking for entertainment. It’s free and open to everyone to enjoy it,” he said.

He said the virtual show was “making the best of a situation,” and would consist of a lot of the same elements that people had come to love about it over the years, just in a reimagined way. “We’ve basically reimagined the production, it’s still running basically the same way, we still have the same format,” he said.

Due to being limited to the Zoom format though, Gionfriddo said, “We’re confined to presenting it as videos.” One of the most significant changes, he said, would be that 22-News meteorologist, Brian Lapis, who has served as the emcee of the event for 14 consecutive years, will not be physically next to Gionfriddo.

“With the situation of having to social distance, we’re doing some trickery to make it look like Brian and I are standing next to each other. We’re recording everyone by themselves and putting it together like a montage, sort of like what we’ve been doing on Zoom, giving the appearance of us all being together,” he said.

He added that he was excited to present the show in black and white for the first time, something they’re not traditionally able to do. This, he said, will add to the “old timey” feel that the radio variety show presents.

Another challenge of the format was the length of the show. The show, which is traditionally two hours, will just be a single hour this year. However, Gionfriddo said, it will still consist of all the elements people love about the show. “It was a combination of just trying to think outside of the Zoom box, make it still accessible and fun, and have all the things that people pretty much recognize the Big Broadcast to be: good music, light comedy and swing music from a big band,” he said.

Gionfriddo said he was most excited to expand the amount of people the show was able to reach this year. “What excites me about this year is that we have a chance to bring the show out to a larger audience since there’s no financial restrictions for anyone,” he said. “It’s such an interesting concept, especially since it’s performed by college students who otherwise have no connection to the 1940s other than what they’ve heard about from their parents and grandparents.”

While the format can accommodate “something like 1,000 people,” he said that they are encouraging people to register for the event in advance “so there’s no disappointment.” The show will take place on March 6 at 2 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m. Those interested in registering for the 2 p.m. performance can do so at https://events.mtholyoke.edu/event/the_little_big_broadcast_967#.YCK8fC2ZNQI. Those interested in registering for the 7:30 p.m. performance can do so by visiting https://events.mtholyoke.edu/event/the_little_big_broadcast#.YCK50S2ZNQI.